Paulus van Caerden | Timeline

Paulus van Caerden (c. 1569 – Manila, 1 October 1615) was a Dutch admiral in service of the Dutch East India Company. He lead two expeditions to the East Indies and one to Brazil. He was governor of the Maluku Islands for one month, until he was captured and arrested by the spanish. Admiral van Caerden died in captivity. Not surprisingly, there's no known painting of him known (yet), so for illustration purposes I chose a picture of an unknown man of the same time and age, painted by an unknown artist and with similar aspect/clothing to what Admiral van Caerden might have been like. As usual, I'm deeply thankful to any additional information and opinions.

January(?) 1(?), 1569 - ? - Paulus Willemszoon van Caerden is born
April 2, 1595 - Texel - Van Caerden, as midshipman, departs in Cornelis de Houtman's fleet
April 26, 1595 - Canary Islands - Passage through the Canary Islands
April 28, 1595 - S. of Canary Islands - Houtman encounters two heavily armed portuguese men-of-war of 1,000 to 1,200 tons, who mercifully are not inclined to attack the dutchmen. In fact, the encounter is very friendly. Visits and small gifts are exchanged. The Portuguese admiral speaks wistfully of Dom Pedro and seems unhappy to be a part of the Spanish Empire. Then the Portuguese continue on their way to Goa, to which city they were carrying the new archbishop
May 11, 1595 - Between Canary Islands and Cape Verde - Houtman finds the squadron of Joris Van Medemblick
May 19, 1595 - Mayo Island, Cape Verde - Landing on the Island of Mayo
June 4, 1595 - Line of the Equator - Cornelis de Houtman crosses the line of the Equator
August 4, 1595 - Mossel Bay, South Africa - Arrival in Mossel Bay
August 8, 1595 - Mossel Bay - The crew goes ashore to get oysters and mussels
August 11, 1595 - Mossel Bay - Houtman resumes voyage
September 3, 1595 - Southern tip of Madagascar - Arrival in Madagascar. Houtman is forced to stay for six months
September 13, 1595 - Island of Nosy Manitse, S. Madagascar - Houtman stays on the micro-island until October 7, west of Faux-cap
October 9, 1595 - St Augustin Bay - SW Madagascar - Houtman arrives at St Augustin Bay, and stays until December 13
December 14, 1595 - St Augustin Bay - SW Madagascar - With many crewmen recovered of disease, Houtman departs for Java
January 5, 1596 - Saint-Mary's Island, NE Madagascar - On the way to Java they are forced to return to Antongil Bay by a storm
February 12, 1596 - Saint-Mary's Island, NE Madagascar - After richly stocked with various provisions, Houtman resumes voyage
June 5, 1596 - Island of Pulau Enggano, NW Sunda Strait - After a difficult voyage with southeast winds, Houtman arrives at the Sunda Strait
June 22, 1596 - Bantam, Java - Arrival at Bantam in Java. After being badly received, they bombard the city.
August 28, 1596 - Bantam, Java - Houtman protests for the presence of two Portuguese junks loading pepper there
September 5, 1596 - Bantam, Java - Houtman and the Dutch ashore are arrested. The ships open fire
September 7, 1596 - Bantam, Java - Twenty Javanese ships surround the Dutch, but with their cannons, the Dutch destroy them
November 6, 1596 - Bantam, Java - After resuming trading in September, Houtman heads east
December 5, 1596 - Sidajoe (Surabaya?) - Houtman's ship is attacked, and with many dead aboard, he is forced to sail away
December 8, 1596 - Pulau Madura, Java - Houtman anchors in Pulau Madura. Suspicious, a Javanese Prince is killed by mistake
January 11, 1597 - Bawean - With only 94 men for 4 ships, the "Amsterdam" is purposely set on fire and the crew divided over the other three ships
February 26, 1597 - Bali - Arrival at Bali and meeting with the king. They managed to obtain a few pots of peppercorns
May(?) 15(?), 1597 - Cape of Good Hope - Houtman rounds the Cape of Good Hope
June(?) 11(?), 1597 - St.Helena Island - At St.Helena Island, a tense situation develops when the portuguese there prevent the dutch from anchoring, landing and resupplying
August 14, 1597 - Texel - Return of the first expedition
December 21, 1599 - Texel - Van Caerden sets sail in Pieter Both's expedition, as vice-Admiral. His ships are the "Nederland", "Verenigde Landen", "Nassau" and "Hof van Holland"
August 6, 1600 - Bantam, Java - Both and Van Caerden arrive in Bantam
August 25, 1600 - Pariaman, West Sumatra - Van Caerden sails for Pariaman, West Sumatra, to load the ship with pepper
November 21, 1600 - Aceh, Sumatra - Van Caerden reaches Aceh (not able to free Frederick de Houtman there)
March 19, 1601 - Bantam, Java - Loading the ship with 1,500 more bags of pepper
July 8, 1601 - Mossel Bay, South Africa - Lands at Mossel Bay. Mussels are a welcome addition to the diet
November 1(?) - ? - Van Caerden returns to the Netherlands with full cargo of pepper
January(?) 1(?), 1603 - ? - Van Caerden sets sail to Brazil and Antilles with Joachim Henricksz Swartenhondt as vice-admiral
July 22, 1604 - Salvador Harbor, Brazil - Van Caerden plunders several ships loaded with sugar
July 25, 1604 - All Saints' Bay, Bahia, Brazil (Matoim River?) - At the mouth of a river on the shore of All Saints' Bay, a ship from Rotterdam was being careened. Its captain, Symon Tack, apparently on the side of the portuguese, opens fire on Van Caerden from a shore battery. The dutch admiral uses a shallop to approach, disabling the shore cannons and plundering the turncoat's ship
July 28, 1604 - Mouth of River Matoim, All Saints' Bay, Bahia, Brazil - Van Caerden finds two ships and approaches on a shallop to take them. Meanwhile, the portuguese set one of them ablaze and fire their shore batteries over them

"De Hollandse Tuyn", arriving
from Salvador, Brazil, 1605

July 30, 1604 - All Saints' Bay, Bahia, Brazil (Matoim River?) - Van Caerden disembarks his people ashore and burns all the houses in sight.
January(?) 1(?), 1605 - Amsterdam - Van Caerden and Swartenhondt return to Holland
April 20, 1606 - Texel - Van Caerden sets sail from Texel with a fleet of 8 ships: "Banda", "Bantam", "Ceylon", "Walcheren", "Ter Veer", "Zierikzee", "China" and "Patani"
September 1(?), 1606 - Cape Lopez, Gabon - Van Caerden stops at Cape Lopez to take fresh water
November 1(?), 1606 - Annobón Islands - Van Caerden stops at Annobón Islands to take fresh water

Island of Mozambique

March 29, 1607 - Island of Mozambique - Van Caerden attacks the Fortress in the Island of Mozambique
May 7, 1607 - Island of Mozambique - Letter to Dom Estêvão, threatening to destroy the whole area, unless it was bought off with a sum of money
May 16, 1607 - Island of Mozambique - Unable to take the fort, Van Caerden weighs anchor and sails to Mayotte
June 8, 1607 - Mayotte, Comoros Islands - Van Caerden reaches Mayotte to resupply his ships
July 17, 1607 - Mayotte, Comoros Islands - Van Caerden sets sail to the Island of Mozambique
August 4, 1607 - Island of Mozambique - Van Caerden returns to the Island of Mozambique. After setting the city on fire and cutting down all the trees, van Caerden refrains from further action
August 26, 1607 - Island of Mozambique - Van Caerden departs to the coast of India
October 2, 1607 - Goa - Van Caerden reaches Goa
October 10, 1607 - Off Goa - Van Caerden takes the "Nossa Senhora do Loreto", carrying correspondence from Phillip III to his Vice-roy in Goa
November(?) 1(?), 1607 - Calicut - Van Caerden anchors at Calicut, on his course to Bantam
November(?) 15(?), 1607 - Pulo Gale (Galle), Ceylon - Van Caerden anchors at Punto Gale, on his course to Bantam
January 6, 1608 - Bantam, Java - Van Caerden arrives in Bantam
January 14, 1608 - Bantam, Java - Van Caerden returns to Bantam, from Johor
January 17, 1608 - Bantam, Java - Letter by Van Caerden to Matelieff
January 21, 1608 - Bantam, Java - Van Caerden sets sail to Maluku Islands
March 10, 1608 - Amboina (Ambon Island) - Van Caerden arrives in Ambon
May 18, 1608 - Malayo, Ternate - Arrival in Ternate. Ship's log: "Saw 3 galleys and some junks of the Portuguese laying off Ternate, and arrived towards evening under Ternate, and caste anchor off Malayo, we found there the ships Gelderland, the Kleine Son and the Duyfken, and the frigate which had been taken at Celebes". An attempt to take the fort at Gammelamme fails
June 14, 1608 - Tidore - Van Caerden attacks Tidore
June 18, 1608 - Tidore - Without success, Van Caerden sets sail to Makian
June 25, 1608 - Makian - Arrival in Makian, with the "Duyfken"
July 18, 1608 - Tafahoso, Makian - Van Caerden succeeds in taking the fort at Tafasoho
July 21, 1608 - Tafahoso, Makian - After a tsunami, where van Caerden looses 2 ships, the dutch admiral names Apollonius Scotte as commander of the Fort
August 26, 1608 - Morotai Island (Northern Maluku) - Van Caerden, with a small ship and 74 men, takes the small Morotai island, defended by just 10 spanish soldiers.
August 27, 1608 - Morotai (Northern Maluku) - As he returns to the ships, the dutch admiral is captured by Sargeant-Major Pedro de Heredia in Morotai, in command of two ships
September(?) 1(?), 1608 - Gammelamme fort (Ternate?) - Van Caerden is imprisoned in the Gammelamme fort
March 10, 1609 - Amboina (Ambon Island) - ?
March 18, 1610 - Gammelamme fort (Ternate?) - Van Caerden and other 10 dutch sailors are set free after paying 6,000 pieces of eight
June 1, 1610 - Maluku Islands - Van Caerden is appointed Governor of the Maluku Islands
July 9, 1610 - Manila, Philippines - Van Caerden is captured again, this time by Sargeant-Major Azcueta Menchaca. The dutch admiral is taken to Manila as forced labourer. Twenty two spanish prisoners at Ternate are released, but the other conditions not being met, Van Caerden stays in prison until his death
October 1, 1615 - Manila, Philippines - Paulus Van Caerden dies in captivity, aged 46 =(END)